"The Emperor's New Clothes" is another famous fairy tale by the Danish author- Hans Christian Andersen. "The Emperor's New Clothes" was first published together with "The Little Mermaid" in Copenhagen, by C. A. Reitzel, on 7 April 1837 as the third and final tale of Andersen's Fairy Tales Told for Children.
"The Emperor's New Clothes" has been adapted to various media, from movies, cartoons to operas and plays. The name of the tale and its variation, “the Emperor has no clothes,” has become an idiom.“The Emperor’s New Clothes” has been translated into more than 100 different languages.
The tale tells us of two tricksters who come to the city of an Emperor who spends a lot of money on luxury and fancy clothes rather than his kingdom’s matters. They pretend to be weavers and offer to sell to the King magnificent clothes which will become invisible to people who are stupid or foolish.
The King is so excited and employs them to weave these clothes. Many officials and even the King himself goes to their workshop to check the weaving progress. Even though they see that the looms are empty, they pretend there is a real cloth because they are afraid of being said to be a fool.
When the two deceivers inform the Emperor that his suit is finished, he is excited to try it on and decides to go on a grand parade around his capital city. Everybody realizes that the Emperor is wearing nothing, but they dissemble that Emperor is wearing beautiful clothes because they do not want to be considered inept or stupid. Until a child speaks loudly that the emperor is not wearing anything. Although startled, the emperor continues the procession and walks in pride more than ever.
The phrase “Emperor’s new clothes” is used as an idiom to indicate logical fallacies. And the key message of the tale is: the truth is not something widely accepted and praised by the majority of people.
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The Emperor's New Clothes
Once upon a time in a far-off land, there was a lovely little village with green fields and
rolling hills. At the top of the tallest hill lived the Emperor. The Emperor was famous far
and wide for his love of fine clothes. He spent hours in front of the mirror admiring himself
in his many fancy outfits. One day, two robbers came to the village with a plan to cheat the
Emperor out of his money. They claimed to be tailors who would make a beautiful new suit for
the Emperor. We have a special cloth to show the Emperor, they announced. It is by far the finest
in the land. Surely he will want a suit made from it. Hearing of this, the Emperor agreed to meet
them. What's so special about your cloth? he asked them. Is it finer cloth than this?
He stood up and turned in a circle so that the men could admire his suit.
Your Majesty, said one of the robbers, this is magic cloth. It is so special that foolish people
cannot see it, but clever people can. For three bags of gold, a suit made from this cloth can be
yours. Immediately the Emperor agreed. Not only would he have the finest suit in all the land,
but he would also find out who in his village was clever and who was foolish.
The Emperor took the men to a room in the castle where they could work. In the room was a large
wooden loom for weaving threads into cloth. Thank you, Your Majesty, one of the robbers said.
We shall weave more magic cloth right away. What a suit this will be!
A few days later, the Emperor sent two messengers to find out when his suit would be ready.
When they entered the room, the pair was surprised. There was no cloth on the loom,
but then they both remembered that foolish people could not see the cloth. They did not want to be
thought foolish themselves, and so they pretended to see it. What beautiful cloth,
one of the messengers exclaimed. It will be the Emperor's best suit yet. When will it be ready?
Tell the Emperor that he will have his suit in time for the grand parade on Saturday,
promised one of the robbers. The messengers went back to the Emperor and told him how
splendid his suit was going to be. Everyone in the castle began to talk about it. Soon,
news of the suit made from magic cloth spread throughout the entire land.
The Emperor's subjects couldn't wait to see the Emperor in his finery. They were also curious to
know which of their neighbors would prove themselves to be foolish by not being able
to see the Emperor's new clothes. Saturday soon came. It was the perfect day for a parade.
Time to wake up, Your Majesty, announced one of the robbers. We are here to dress you for the
parade. Prepare to behold the most beautiful suit anyone has ever seen. What do you think?
The other robber asked, pointing toward a chair. He was acting as if a suit were draped over it.
But all the Emperor saw was the chair. Not wanting to appear foolish, he exclaimed,
Why, it's magnificent! The robbers pretended to help the Emperor dress.
Then they took their gold and fled the village as quickly as they could.
The parade began. When the Emperor's carriage came into view, the people stared in surprise
and shock. The Emperor was in his underwear. But no one wanted to appear foolish, so they cried,
Look how beautiful the Emperor's new clothes are! Then the Emperor's carriage passed by a
little boy. The child was confused. He didn't see the beautiful clothes everyone was talking about.
Why is the Emperor in his underwear? he asked his father loudly.
Suddenly, everyone realized the truth. The Emperor really was in his underwear.
The Emperor isn't wearing any clothes, they all began to tell each other.
The Emperor couldn't help but hear them. He turned red with embarrassment.
Now he understood that the men had cheated him.
The Emperor was grateful to the little boy for teaching everyone a valuable lesson.
